DETROIT – When co-founders Bruce Millan, Barbara Busby, Dee Andrus and three others first raised the curtain on the Detroit Repertory Theatre, the year was 1957 – and the troupe was known as the Millan Children's Theatre. But right from the beginning these three upstarts weren't interested in recreating what had been done before. And they still aren't.
"We said we didn't like where society was going," recalled Millan, sitting in the lobby of the theater that has since seen nearly two million patrons pass through its doors. "It was very divided – and this was pre-Civil Rights."
So they set about to do things differently.
Which they did – most noticeably through color-and-ethnicity-blind casting. But not everyone appreciated their approach. "There was a lot of resistance," Millan said. Not only were many schools initially hesitant to book his shows, there were problems off the stage, as well. "We'd go for a beer after a show and get refused. The tensions were beginning to rise."
And then the 1967 riots hit – and their neighborhood at the intersection of the Lodge and Davison Freeways was in the thick of it. "Bruce was going around putting out fires in neighbors' homes," said Andrus.
"We had national guardsmen on top of apartment houses," added Busby.
"And after that, the children's tour ended," Millan said, with a hint of sadness. "The blacks turned us white, and the whites turned us black."
So the founders decided it was time to produce challenging theater for adult audiences. "We had this space here, and we still had folding chairs. Needless to say, it was a struggle," Millan said.
The Rep is born
"But we did one thing," he continued. "We went back to our beginnings: We still didn't like what professional theater was doing, and we were going to do it right. We were going to change the world."
Busby laughed. "I guess that's how young people think."
It's a mission the founders have never backed away from. "We believed in the notion that diversity COULD operate in unity, and the net result of that would be a kind of theater that blossomed and united us a people," Millan said.
Forty years later, they still believe that. But experience has also made them realists.
"Let's face it," Millan said. "Even today, the kind of thing we're doing – the blacks are much more sophisticated on the question. They had no problems (with it), largely – well, some in the early days did. 'Oh, that WHITE theater.' We even had a couple of actors who actually said they had been a part of a conspiracy to bomb the theater – and later came here to perform.
"So it was a question of sticking here on this impossible street, this rag-tag street, but we were committed to the idea of a theater that ought to operate in the community, that it ought to be professional and it should be a part of the community."
And thus, in 1967, the Detroit Repertory Theatre was born.
Loyal customers
If there's one thing that is immediately apparent to all first time visitors to the Rep, it's this: Its customer base is fiercely loyal – and they love Bruce Millan.
"Sometimes WHERE you are dictates what you do, and here we are," Millan said. "At that time, no one would DARE cross Eight Mile Road. They still don't – but that was a wall."
With fear being a primary factor that kept many people away, the founders created a fundraising program that would lure people to the theater in large numbers. And as it turned out, they tapped a resource that nobody had ever touched. "Even (blacks) were afraid to come, but they started to attend these fundraising events. They're much more adventurous; they were much more open-minded than the closed minds we never HAVE cracked," he said.
Millan points to the Anna Holley Dollar A Week Pledge Program as evidence of the support his theater receives from the local community. Since its inception almost 10 years ago, the program has brought in close to $600,000.
"At a dollar a week," Busby emphasized.
The audience has been expanding in recent years, Millan noted, with ticket holders coming from as far away as Suttons Bay and Lapeer. "The majority of our audience is still black – and we're proud of it. We want whites to come – we want to have an integrated theater. But I'm certainly not going to go out and play kiss ass – because it never works, anyway."
Performing at the Rep is extremely gratifying, said Ray Schultz, who's returned to the theater from Minnesota to co-star opposite Busby in "Doubt," the opening show of the 50th anniversary season. "The audiences here are so loyal," Schultz said. "It's even more than that: They're really present and alive. When they see a show, they are watching the show; they are listening to the show; and they let you know it. Some of the 'funnest' times I've had have been the way the audience will react to something. I think anyone who has performed here would say the same thing."
Ups and downs
Over the years, Millan, his theater and many of its actors have won numerous accolades from the media for their work. Recognition has come from various local, state and national organizations, as well. In 1986, for example, the Rep received the Governor's Award for outstanding achievement in the arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts once highlighted the troupe as a successful model in a presentation to a presidential task force.
But the struggles never end.
And they started early. "This is an amusing story," Millan said of a lawsuit he filed against Meadow Brook Theatre before it opened its doors in 1968. "Their big advertisement was 'The only professional theater in Michigan.'"
But they weren't. "We were already a LORT member." (The League of Resident Theatres is a consortium of professional, non-profit theaters that operates under a LORT-Equity union contract.)
"Well, some of the actors came to me and said, 'You shouldn't let that go on.' And some of them were really miffed."
So Millan called Meadow Brook to introduce himself – and to clear up their misconception. The response he got, however, was chilly. And repeated attempts got him nowhere. "I became more belligerent as they became more arrogant," Millan said, smiling. "So it all added up to this: I sued them. I placed an injunction on them and they couldn't open."
Thanks to the intervention of Joey Nederlander, however, a settlement was reached after Millan promised to take the case all the way to the Supreme Court if he had to. "I wasn't after any money," Millan said of the settlement. "At that point we were struggling for an identity."
So Meadow Brook agreed to run a full-page ad in the major dailies acknowledging their fellow professional theater company. "And they were expensive," added Busby, who still has copies of the ad.
Later, in 1980, a major fire caused considerable damage to the building only a handful of days before a 25th wedding anniversary party was to be held in the theater. The theater community responded in droves. "And by golly, we DID open," Millan said. Two building renovations have since occurred.
But the biggest problem facing the theater is the drop in financial support from both the public and private sectors. "The real thrust against the arts began when the right wing really took over," Millan said. "Money's drying up. Foundations are backing off."
The souring economy in Michigan has also been a major factor. And foundations and corporations that once funded a wide variety of projects are now supporting only a few. "Society is becoming so market-driven and so wrongly competitive that we're losing touch with our soul," Millan reflected. "And that's what culture is all about: It's the soul of the community."
Passing the baton
As the three founders reflect on their 50-year legacy, talk of the future takes a somber tone.
"We just hope we can pass the baton to people who are as excited about it when they take over as we were when we started it," Busby said. "We've got to have someone to pass it on to."
But the odds are against them, Millan believes. "And there's an obvious reason."
Which is, of course, financial, he acknowledged. "We have to somehow double or triple our income in order to pass the baton so that they can have a living wage. We certainly do not want to ask anyone to start from scratch. And the likelihood? Well, we're trying. But it's not very good. But we're at least going to go down fighting."
Despite the years and hard work he has put into the theater, Millan isn't sentimental about it. Nor does he openly brag about all the good it has accomplished. "But I think it SHOULD continue to serve the community. It should be supported and maintained because it's a legacy for the City of Detroit and a grassroots cultural development that has its own personality, its own style – and let's face it: Detroit ought to brag about it!"
(FOR "REVIEW BOX")
FIFTY YEARS OF THE DETROIT REPERTORY THEATRE
Two weeks ago, BTL sat down with three of the original six founders of the Detroit Repertory Theatre to discuss the troupe's 50th anniversary. Part one of the interview, focusing on the group's early formation, appeared last week. Part two, appearing today, examines the Rep's last 40 years and plans for the future.
